Ape socioecology

First paragraph: This section presents an overview of the socioecology of the seven species of nonhuman apes: bonobos, chimpanzees, gibbons (including siamangs), eastern and western gorillas, and Bornean and Sumatran orangutans. For more detailed information, see Wich et al. (2009b), Emery Thompson and Wrangham (2013), Reinartz, Ingmanson and Vervaecke (2013), Williamson and Butynski (2013a, 2013b), and Williamson, Maisels and Groves (2013)

Factors influencing wild chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) relative abundance in an agriculture-swamp matrix outside protected areas

This study was funded by a grant from the Arcus Foundation No. G-PGM-1508-1368 to TH; PA was supported by the MINECO and the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) through a 'Ramón y Cajal' contract (RYC-2012-11970), and Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary provided logistical support. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We are grateful to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security of the Sierra Leone Government for granting us permission to conduct this research. This work would not have been possible without the collaboration of the people in the study communities. We also thank the outreach and management teams at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, in particular David Momoh, Joseph Marah, Konkofa Marah, Yirah Koroma, Bockarie Kanneh and Natalia Casado, for their assistance in the field. We are also extremely grateful to Dr. Raj Amin, Institute of Zoology in London, for providing the camera trap analysis software and to Jasper Gilardi for his help with processing camera trap images. Finally, we would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers who provided useful suggestions for improving the quality of this manuscript.Human population growth and anthropogenic activities are exacerbating pressures on biodiversity globally. Land conversion is aggravating habitat fragmentation and non-human primates are increasingly compelled to live in forest-agricultural mosaics. In Sierra Leone, more than half of the wild chimpanzee population (Pan troglodytes verus) occurs outside protected areas and competes for resources with farmers. Our study area, in the Moyamba district in south-western Sierra Leone, is practically devoid of forest and is dominated by cultivated and fallow fields, swamps and mangroves. In this region, traditional slash-and-burn agriculture modifies annually the landscape, sparing swamps and mangroves and semi-domesticated oil palms (Elaeis guineensis). This study aimed to explore ecological and anthropogenic factors influencing chimpanzee relative abundance across this highly degraded and human-impacted landscape. Between 2015 and 2016, we deployed 24 camera traps systematically across 27 1.25x1.25 km grid cells. Cameras were operational over a period of 8 months. We used binomial iCAR models to examine to what extent anthropogenic (roads, settlements, abandoned settlements and human presence) and habitat variables (swamps, farmland and mangroves) shape chimpanzee relative abundance. The best model explained 43.16% of the variation with distance to roads and swamps emerging as the best predictors of chimpanzee relative abundance. Our results suggest that chimpanzees avoid roads and prefer to maintain proximity to swamps. There was no significant effect of settlements, abandoned settlements, mangroves or human presence. It appears that chimpanzees do not avoid areas frequented by people; although, our findings suggest temporal avoidance between the two species. We highlight the importance of studying chimpanzee populations living in anthropogenic habitats like agricultural-swamp matrixes to better understand factors influencing their distribution and inform conservation planning outside protected areas

Impacts of Infrastructure on Apes, Indigenous Peoples and Other Local Communities

Chapter 2 explores the ecological and behavioral impacts of infrastructure on apes in the forest, as well as the social impacts on forest peoples and communities dependent on forest resources. The chapter then offers some lessons learned and steps that can be taken to minimize the deleterious effects of infrastructure development

Chimpanzee Personality and the Arginine Vasopressin Receptor 1A Genotype

Polymorphisms of the arginine vasopressin receptor 1a (AVPR1a) gene have been linked to various measures related to human social behavior, including sibling conflict and agreeableness. In chimpanzees, AVPR1a polymorphisms have been associated with traits important for social interactions, including sociability, joint attention, dominance, conscientiousness, and hierarchical personality dimensions named low alpha/stability, disinhibition, and negative emotionality/low dominance. We examined associations between AVPR1a and six personality domains and hierarchical personality dimensions in 129 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) living in Japan or in a sanctuary in Guinea. We fit three linear and three animal models. The first model included genotype, the second included sex and genotype, and the third included genotype, sex, and sex × genotype. All personality phenotypes were heritable. Chimpanzees possessing the long form of the allele were higher in conscientiousness, but only in models that did not include the other predictors; however, additional analyses suggested that this may have been a consequence of study design. In animal models that included sex and sex × genotype, chimpanzees homozygous for the short form of the allele were higher in extraversion. Taken with the findings of previous studies of chimpanzees and humans, the findings related to conscientiousness suggest that AVPR1a may be related to lower levels of impulsive aggression. The direction of the association between AVPR1a genotype and extraversion ran counter to what one would expect if AVPR1a was related to social behaviors. These results help us further understand the genetic basis of personality in chimpanzees

Economic development and conservation of biodiversity: understanding the interface of ape conservation and industrial agriculture

Tropical ecosystems sustain much of the Earth's biodiversity, provide countless natural products and services—both locally and globally—and play critical roles in the regulation of the climate and the carbon and hydrological cycles. The expansion of agriculture into tropical forest ecosystems will therefore have enormous impacts on factors such as human and animal health (Karesh et al., 2012), energy options and prices, biodiversity conservation and infrastructure (see Box 1.1). In addition, this expansion might drive, or be affected by, conflict in areas of resource scarcity. These factors all directly affect human survival and that of countless other species. The rapid expansion of agriculture is the main driver of tropical forest loss (Sodhi et al., 2010). In much of the world, such expansion is led by large-scale, industrial agriculture, although small-scale agriculture also has a significant impact in some countries, particularly those in Africa

Professional development in conservation: An effectiveness framework

Contemporary conservation professionals are part of a workforce focused on overcoming complex challenges under great time pressure. The characteristics of conservation work, and in particular the evolving demands placed on the workforce, mean that to remain effective these professionals need to enhance their skills and abilities continually. Currently, there are no sector-wide guidelines to promote systematic professional development that addresses both individual and organizational learning. This study builds upon existing knowledge from other sectors by examining professional development in conservation through an in-depth qualitative thematic analysis of interviews with 22 conservation professionals, resulting in an effectiveness framework for professional development in the conservation sector. Our findings indicate how individuals’ motivation to learn, proactivity, open-mindedness towards alternative information and views were considered preconditions for effective professional development. A balance between organizational goals and career ambitions was found essential to maintain this motivation to learn and vital for staff retention and preservation of institutional knowledge. Professional development plans may help distinguish between individual career aspirations and organizational objectives and aid a discussion between staff and management on how to balance the two. Leaders have the opportunity to remove barriers to effective professional development. We discuss solutions to overcome specific barriers, to promote an inclusive approach for diverse learners through provision of opportunities, effective learning design, and resource distribution for professional development. This effectiveness framework can be used by conservationists and conservation organizations to plan and decide on professional development

Economic development and conservation of biodiversity: understanding the interface of ape conservation and industrial agriculture

Tropical ecosystems sustain much of the Earth's biodiversity, provide countless natural products and services—both locally and globally—and play critical roles in the regulation of the climate and the carbon and hydrological cycles. The expansion of agriculture into tropical forest ecosystems will therefore have enormous impacts on factors such as human and animal health (Karesh et al., 2012), energy options and prices, biodiversity conservation and infrastructure (see Box 1.1). In addition, this expansion might drive, or be affected by, conflict in areas of resource scarcity. These factors all directly affect human survival and that of countless other species. The rapid expansion of agriculture is the main driver of tropical forest loss (Sodhi et al., 2010). In much of the world, such expansion is led by large-scale, industrial agriculture, although small-scale agriculture also has a significant impact in some countries, particularly those in Africa

Manual skills for food processing by mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda

Although gorillas rarely use tools in the wild, their manipulative skills during plant processing may be similar to those of other tool-using great apes. Virunga mountain gorillas are known for the complexity in their methods of thistle and nettle plant preparation in the wild. However, there has been no comparable data on food processing in the population of mountain gorillas from the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. We investigated the manual actions and hand grips used when accessing edible parts of two hard-to-process plants defended by stinging hairs, epidermis or periderm (i.e., peel of Urera hypselodendron and pith of Mimulopsis arborescens) and one undefended plant (i.e., leaves of Momordica foetida) in 11 Bwindi wild mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) using video records ad libitum. Similar to thistle feeding by Virunga gorillas, Bwindi gorillas used the greatest number of manual actions for the most hard-to-process plant (U. hypselodendron), the actions were ordered in several key stages and organised hierarchically. The demands of processing plant material elicited 19 different grips and variable thumb postures, of which three grips were new and 16 grips have either been previously reported or show clear similarities to grips used by other wild and captive African apes and humans. Moreover, our study only partly supports a functional link between diet and hand morphology in mountain gorillas and suggests that the gorilla hand is best adapted to forceful grasping that is required for both manipulation and arboreal locomotion

Perceptions of challenges to subsistence agriculture, and crop foraging by wildlife and chimpanzees Pan troglodytes verus in unprotected areas in Sierra Leone

The 2009–2010 Sierra Leone National Chimpanzee Census Project estimated there was a population of 5,580 chimpanzees Pan troglodytes verus distributed across the country, with > 50% occurring outside protected areas. The census also highlighted the significance of competition between people and chimpanzees for resources in areas dominated by farming activities where wild chimpanzees forage on crops. We selected four study areas in two districts in Sierra Leone with high chimpanzee density in habitats dominated by agriculture, far from any protected areas. Our objectives were to assess farmers’ perceptions of the main challenges to their agricultural yields, and the wildlife involved in crop foraging, and their perceptions of chimpanzees in particular, as well as the main crop protection measures used. We conducted 257 semi-structured interviews with local farmers across the four study areas. We found that (1) farmers reported wild animals as the main challenge to their agricultural practices; (2) most complaints concerned cane rats Thryonomys swinderianus, which targeted almost all crop types, especially rice and cassava; (3) chimpanzees reportedly targeted 21 of the 23 crop types cultivated, but did so less often than cane rats, focusing particularly on oil palm, cassava and domestic fruits; (4) overall, chimpanzees were not among the top three most destructive animals reported; (5) chimpanzees were generally perceived as being more destructive than dangerous and as having declined since before the civil war; and (6) the main crop protection measure employed was fencing interspersed with traps. Our findings show the importance of investigating farmers’ perceptions to inform the development of appropriate conservation strategies aimed at promoting coexistence of people and wildlife in degraded landscapes